The Building Blocks Of Growing A Fitness Business

The Building Blocks Of Growing A Fitness Business

As any business owner, you want to grow your business in the most efficient way possible. Everyone has their own beliefs in how a business should be ran and everyone certainly has their comfort zone when it comes to marketing.

The greatest thing about fitness experts and gym owners are they are down to earth. They have a side to them that’s blue collar and that’s one of my favorite parts about working with them. Their beliefs are in their face to face interactions with clients and building a great business that will spread by word of mouth.

One of my favorite boxing coaches down in Texas believed in this. He had enough of the reputation to keep the doors open and to be “doing just fine.” He tried some of the shortcuts though which meant he was looking to add clientele. Groupon was one of his bigger swing and misses but he kept treking along.

Owners spend all their time within their business and sometimes lose perspective of how prospects are behaving. Here are some of the basic building blocks every fitness business needs:

A great website. “I don’t even know why people go there, they can’t even spar!” my coach said. What he didn’t realize is that there were people who haven’t heard of him, or people that have, that searched for other gyms in the area. When they landed on the website for the chain that was close, they saw a badass site that laid everything out there. And it was motivating to look at! If you have the best car on the lot, that doesn’t mean you’re going to sell it if the tires aren’t shined and it’s not beautifully waxed. You need that wow factor.

Get a piece of the pie. Google searches are as powerful as ever. If someone in the area wants food, a new pair of socks, or a new place to work out they will search for it. It’s very possible that they may have heard about your gym from a friend but most people want to take it into their own hands. If you sell peaches, make sure your website pops up when someone searches for “peaches in my area.”

Marry social media. This is the hardest thing for people to grasp. Why? Because it’s an investment and people don’t like spending time or money on something that doesn’t produce right away. What would you say to someone who worked out for a week and said “this is stupid, I’m out.” The results come in the longevity in building an audience and taking your place in people’s minds with your brand. It works!

A referral program. Everyone trusts a friend more than random stuff on the internet. So take advantage of your current clients’ network! Run a raffle for free stuff. An entry? A Facebook check-in at your gym. Or run giveaways where people have to tag their friends for an entry on your post.

If you can apply these four layers, your gym will be sure to grow. The good ones play for the short term, the best ones grind it out in the long term.